1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combination plate terminal assembly capable of combining, in a pair, independent plate terminals respectively crimped onto ends portions of a plurality of electric wires so as to allow the electric wires wired for apparatuses mounted in a vehicle or the like to be collectively connected.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-078683, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of a combination plate terminal assembly is shown in FIGS. 5 to 8. A combination plate terminal assembly 50 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is comprised of one combination plate terminal 51 which includes a wire connecting portion 53 to be crimped onto an end portion of an electric wire W and an assembling portion 65 having in its center a through hole 66 through which a tightening bolt is inserted, as well as another combination plate terminal 52 which can be fitted to the one combination plate terminal 51 and is formed in a substantially similar shape.
An assembling portion 55 of the other combination plate terminal 52 has a pair of base plate portions 57 and 58 which are disposed in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the wire W with a through hole 56 positioned therebetween, and which are opposed to and are brought into close contact with a pair of base plate portions 67 and 68 (which will be described later) of the one combination plate terminal 51. Further, the assembling portion 55 of the other combination plate terminal 52 has a pair of retaining portions 61 and 62 which are disposed in a direction parallel to the axis of the wire W with the through hole 56 positioned therebetween and are fitted to a pair of retaining portions 71 and 72 (which will be described later) of the one combination plate terminal 51.
In addition, outer surfaces of the retaining portions 61 and 62 of the other combination plate terminal 52 are formed such that portions between the pair of base plate portions 57 and 58 project in a stepped form toward the one combination plate terminal 51 to such an extent as to form interference fits with respect to inner surfaces of the retaining portions 71 and 72. Further, a pair of elongated protrusions 63 and 64 are respectively provided projectingly on the base plate portions 57 and 58 at positions adjacent to the retaining portion 61.
On the other hand, the assembling portion 65 of the one combination plate terminal 51 has a pair of base plate portions 67 and 68 which are disposed in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the wire W with the through hole 66 positioned therebetween, and which are opposed to and are brought into close contact with the pair of base plate portions 67 and 68 of the other combination plate terminal 52. Further, the assembling portion 65 of the one combination plate terminal 51 has the pair of retaining portions 71 and 72 which are disposed in a direction parallel to the axis of the wire W with the through hole 66 positioned therebetween and are fitted to the pair of retaining portions 61 and 62 of the other combination plate terminal 52.
In addition, the retaining portions 71 and 72 of the one combination plate terminal 51 are formed such that portions between the pair of base plate portions 67 and 68 project in a stepped form toward the other combination plate terminal 52 to such an extent as to form interference fits with respect to the retaining portions 61 and 62. Further, a pair of elongated protrusions 73 and 74 are respectively provided projectingly on opposite surfaces of the base plate portions 67 and 68 at positions adjacent to the other retaining portion 72.
Further, the retaining portions 61, 62, 71, and 72 are respectively provided on both sides thereof with clearance grooves so that the corresponding retaining portions do not interfere with each other during fitting. During fitting, both combination plate terminals 51 and 52 are deflected in a state in which the base plate portions at the innermost portions of the clearance grooves serve as fulcrums 75 to 82.
In addition, as locking mechanisms at the time when the assembling portions 55 and 65 are assembled, the retaining portions 61, 62, 71, and 72 are respectively provided with locking holes 83 and 86 and locking projections 84 and 85.
With the above-described combination plate terminal assembly 50, after one retaining portion 71 of the one combination plate terminal 51 with the rear wire connecting portion 53 crimped onto the end portion of the wire W is fitted in the through hole 56 by being moved along the inner surface of the other retaining portion 62 of the other combination plate terminal 52 with a wire connecting portion 54 crimped onto the end portion of the wire W, the one retaining portion 71 of the one combination plate terminal 51 is continued to be fitted in such a manner as to traverse the through hole 56.
Then, the base plate portions 57 and 58 are respectively slid on the corresponding base plate portions 67 and 68, and the one retaining portion 71 of the one combination plate terminal 51 slips in along the outer surface of the one retaining portion 61 of the other combination plate terminal 52, while the other retaining portion 72 of the one combination plate terminal 51 slips in along the outer surface of the other retaining portion 62 of the other combination plate terminal 52.
Since the retaining portions 61, 62, 71, and 72 are so set as to form interference fits as described above, their assembled state is not easily canceled, and the combination plate terminals 51 and 52 are positively assembled by the action of engagement between the locking projections 84 and 85 and the locking holes 83 and 86.
In that case, since the base plate portions 57, 58, 67, and 68 are provided with the protrusions 63, 64, 73, and 74, as shown in FIG. 6, the base plate portion 57 is deflected at the fulcrums 75 and 77, and the base plate portion 58 is deflected at the fulcrums 76 and 78. In addition, since the base plate portion 67 is similarly deflected at the fulcrums 79 and 81, and the base plate portion 68 at the fulcrums 80 and 82, the state of combination of the combination plate terminals 51 and 52 is further stabilized.
Next, referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, a description will be given of a combination plate terminal assembly 90 which is a modification of the related art. This combination plate terminal assembly 90 has a form in which the lengths, in the direction parallel to the axis of the wire W, of the other retaining portion 62 and the other retaining portion 72 in the above-described combination plate terminal assembly 50 are made short. Namely, the retaining portion 62 and the retaining portion 72 are replaced by a retaining portion 92 of one combination plate terminal 55 and a retaining portion 93 of the other combination plate terminal 65. Accordingly, changes are only made in fulcrums 94, 95, 96, and 97 whose intervals are made shorter than the intervals of the fulcrums 77, 78, 81, and 82 in the above-described combination plate terminal assembly 50, and the other members adopt arrangements equivalent to those of the combination plate terminal assembly 50 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Hence, the identical parts and portions will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.
However, with the above-described combination plate terminal assembly 50, if variations in the finished dimensions occur to the projecting height of the aforementioned protrusions, the protrusions 63, 64, 73, 74 become out of balance, and there are cases where only one protrusion is brought into contact, resulting in a decrease of the overall contact area. For example, there is a problem in that if the projecting height of the protrusion 73 is low, the load is concentrated on the opposing protrusion 63, with the result that the other protrusions 64 and 74 rattle, thereby making it impossible to obtain stable electrical connection.
In addition, with the combination plate terminal assembly 90, as shown in FIG. 8, the direction of the elongated protrusion 64 does not coincide with the direction of phantom lines M connecting the fulcrums 75 and 94 and the fulcrums 79 and 96, and the direction of the elongated protrusion 63 does not coincide with the direction of phantom lines N connecting the fulcrums 76 and 95 and the fulcrums 80 and 97. For this reason, contact areas T (hatched portions in the drawing) in the protrusions 63 and 64 at the time of fitting and retention and bolting down are not uniformly distributed, so that the variation and reduction of the contact areas occur. As a result, there is a problem in that the protrusions 63 and 64 and the base plate portions 57, 58, 67, and 68 are likely to be deformed, making it impossible to obtain stable electrical contact.
The present invention is aimed at overcoming the above-described problems of the related art, and its object is to provide a combination plate terminal assembly which makes it possible to obtain satisfactory contact of the protrusions and the base plate portions and stable electrical contact.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a combination plate terminal assembly which comprises a first combination plate terminal including a first wire connecting portion, to which an end portion of a first electric wire is connectable, a first through hole, through which a tightening bolt is insertable, a pair of first retaining portions, between which the first through hole is located, extending in a direction substantially parallel to an extending direction of the first wire connecting portion, a pair of first base plate portions, between which the first through hole is located, extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the extending direction of the first wire connecting portion, and at least one first elongated protrusion disposed on one of the first base plate portions.
According to a second aspect of the present invention depending on the first aspect, preferably, the at least one first elongated protrusion is located adjacent to the first through hole.
According to a third aspect of the present invention depending on the first aspect, preferably, the at least one first elongated protrusion is located adjacent to one of the first retaining portions.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the combination plate terminal assembly according to the first aspect further comprises a second combination plate terminal, with which the first combination plate terminal is engageable, including a second wire connecting portion, to which an end portion of a second electric wire is connectable, a second through hole, through which the tightening bolt is insertable, a pair of second retaining portions, between which the second through hole is located, extending in a direction substantially parallel to an extending direction of the second wire connecting portion, and a pair of second base plate portions, between which the second through hole is located, extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the extending direction of the second wire connecting portion.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the combination plate terminal assembly according to the fourth aspect further comprises at least one second elongated protrusion disposed on one of the second base plate portions.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the combination plate terminal assembly according to the first aspect further comprises at least one second elongated protrusion disposed on the other one of the first base plate portions.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention depending on the sixth aspect, preferably, the at least one second elongated protrusion is located adjacent to the first through hole.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention depending on the sixth aspect, preferably, the at least one second elongated protrusion is located adjacent to one of the first retaining portions.
In accordance with any one of the aspects of the present invention, each of the base plate portions of the combination plate terminals, which are engaged by assembling, is pressed at three points including two fulcrums and one protrusion. Accordingly, it is possible to obtain satisfactory contact and stable electrical contact without being affected by the variation of the projecting height of the protrusion.
Furthermore, according to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the combination plate terminal assembly according to the first aspect further comprises a second combination plate terminal, with which the first combination plate terminal is engageable, wherein the at least one first elongated protrusion extends parallel to a first phantom line connecting first fulcrums formed between the first base plate portions and the second combination plate terminal when the first combination plate terminal and the second combination plate terminal are engaged with each other.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention depending on the ninth aspect, preferably, the second combination plate terminal includes a second wire connecting portion, to which an end portion of a second electric wire is connectable, a second through hole, through which the tightening bolt is insertable, a pair of second retaining portions, between which the second through hole is located, extending in a direction substantially parallel to an extending direction of the second wire connecting portion, and a pair of second base plate portions, between which the second through hole is located, extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the extending direction of the second wire connecting portion.
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, the combination plate terminal assembly according to the tenth aspect further comprises at least one second elongated protrusion disposed on one of the second base plate portions, wherein the at least one second elongated protrusion extends parallel to a second phantom line connecting second fulcrums formed between the first base plate portions and the second base plate portions when the first combination plate terminal and the second combination plate terminal are engaged with each other.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, the combination plate terminal assembly according to the ninth aspect further comprises at least one second elongated protrusion disposed on the other one of the first base plate portions, wherein the at least one second elongated protrusion extends parallel to a second phantom line connecting second fulcrums formed between the first base plate portions and the second combination plate terminal when the first combination plate terminal and the second combination plate terminal are engaged with each other.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention depending on the ninth aspect, preferably, the at least one first elongated protrusion is located adjacent to either one of the first retaining portions.
According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention depending on the eleventh aspect, preferably, the at least one second elongated protrusion is located adjacent to either one of the second retaining portions.
According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention depending on the twelfth aspect, preferably, the at least one second elongated protrusion is located adjacent to either one of the first retaining portions.
According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention depending on the ninth aspect, preferably, when the first combination plate terminal and the second combination plate terminal are engaged with each other, portions of the first base plate portions and the second combination plate terminal adjacent to the first retaining portions serve as the first fulcrums for supporting an engagement of the first combination plate terminal and the second combination plate terminal.
According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention depending on the eleventh aspect, preferably, portions of the first base plate portions and the second base plate portions adjacent to the first retaining portions and the second retaining portions serve as the first and second fulcrums for supporting an engagement of the first combination plate terminal and the second combination plate terminal.
According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention depending on the twelfth aspect, preferably, portions of the first base plate portions adjacent to the first retaining portions serve as the first fulcrums for supporting an engagement of the first combination plate terminal and the second combination plate terminal.
According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, the combination plate terminal assembly according to the eleventh aspect further comprises a third elongated protrusion disposed on the other one of the first base plate portions, and a fourth elongated protrusion disposed on the other one of the second base plate portions.
According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, the combination plate terminal assembly according to the twelfth aspect further comprises a third elongated protrusion disposed on the one of the first base plate portions, and a fourth elongated protrusion disposed on the other one of the first base plate portions.
In accordance with any one of the ninth to twentieth aspects of the present invention, the deflecting direction of each of the base plate portion coincides with the direction of each of the protrusions, so that the contact area of the protrusion become uniform, and the load at the time of assembling and bolting down can be distributed uniformly, so that crushing can be minimized. Moreover, since the contact area becomes large, it is possible to obtain satisfactory contact and stable electrical connection.